Bunk bed slat cover

ABSTRACT

A cover for hiding slats of an upper bunk is disclosed. The cover may be wrapped around the head and foot slats of the upper bunk or around left and right rails of the upper bunk. The cover is tensioned with a strapping mechanism to hold the bottom side of the cover in a substantially flat configuration. Moreover, an intermediate strap may be strapped around an intermediate slat to further maintain the substantially flat configuration of the bottom side of the cover. Flaps may also be attached to the bottom side of the cover and be traversable between first and second positions to display two or more motifs. The cover serves to conceal the aesthetically displeasing slats and also to provide a protective barrier over the splinters on wooden slats.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT RE: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a cover for hiding slats of an upper bunk of a bunk bed.

Bunk beds are two beds that are stacked upon each other. Unfortunately, the person sleeping on the bottom bunk is not able to decorate his or her space and must view aesthetically displeasing slats that support the bed of the upper bunk.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method and apparatus for hiding the slats of the upper bunk.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein address the needs discussed above, discussed below and those that are known in the art.

A cover for hiding slats of an upper bunk of a bunk bed is disclosed. The cover is tautly wrapped around the head slat and the foot slat of the upper bunk. The cover is tensioned by a plurality of first and second straps that are respectively secured to the opposed distal end portions of the cover. By attaching the cover to the slats with the straps, the cover can accommodate bunk beds that position the head and foot slats at different positions. The cover is a one size fits all. The cover may additionally have one or more flaps that can be traversed between first and second positions for displaying two or more motifs. The cover serves to conceal the aesthetically displeasing slats and to provide a protective barrier over splinters of wooden slats.

More particularly, a cover for hiding slats exposed on an underside of an upper bed of a bunk bed is disclosed. The cover may comprise a sheet, a plurality of first straps and a plurality of second straps. The sheet may define a first side and a second side. The first side of the sheet is exposed for viewing by a person lying down on a lower bunk of the bunk bed. The second side of the sheet faces the slats of the upper bed of the bunk bed. The plurality of first straps may be attached to a first end portion of the sheet. The plurality of second straps may be attached to an opposed second end portion of the sheet. The first and second straps may be removably engageable to each other and adjustable to place tension in the first and second straps and the elongate sheet.

The cover may further comprise first and second rigid members. The first rigid member may extend between two of the first straps. The first rigid member may be attached to the first end portion of the elongate sheet for distributing force on the sheet about a width of the first straps. The second rigid member may extend between two of the second straps. The second rigid member may be attached to the second end portion of the elongate sheet for distributing force on the elongate sheet about a width of the second straps. The first and second rigid members may extend from a left edge to a right edge of the sheet. Alternatively, the first and second rigid members may extend between outermost first straps and outermost second straps.

The first and second rigid members may be stiffer than the sheet. The first and second rigid members may be fabricated from a plastic material (e.g., buckram, cotton fiber with stabilizer such as glue, etc.). The sheet may be fabricated from a fabric (e.g., woven cotton, etc.).

The sheet may be fabricated from a multi-ply fabric. The first and second rigid members may be embedded between outer plies of the multi-ply fabric of the sheet.

The second straps may have buckles for feeding the first straps through the buckles and tensioning the sheet. The first straps may have a fastening system for fixing the tension of the straps and the sheet after the desired tension is achieved.

The cover may further comprise a flap extending from the first side of the sheet. The flap may be longer than ½ a length of the upper bunk and define first and second sides. A distal end portion of the flap may have a fastener for fastening the distal end portion of the flap to the first side either in a first position exposing a first side of the flap or in a second position exposing a second side of the flap.

The first side of the sheet may have first and second fasteners which are positioned on top of the upper bunk when the cover is mounted to the upper bunk of the bunk bed. A distal portion of the flap may have a fastener. A length of the flap may be equal to a distance between a hinge of the flap to the first side of the sheet and one of the first and second fasteners formed on the first side of the sheet. A first distance between the hinge of the flap and the first fastener formed on the first side of the sheet may be equal to a second distance between the hinge of the flap and the second fastener formed on the first side of the sheet.

The fastener and the mating fastener may be hooks and loops, snaps, buttons or a combination thereof.

In another aspect, a method of mounting a cover to an upper bunk of a bunk bed is disclosed. The method may comprise the steps of wrapping a sheet around a first outer support of the upper bunk and an opposed second outer support of the upper bunk; adjusting tension of the sheet around the first and second outer supports (e.g., left and right rails of head and foot slats) by engaging first and second straps attached to the opposed distal end portions of the sheet; and securing the first and second straps together to fix the tension in the sheet.

The adjusting step may include the step of feeding first straps through buckles attached to the second straps and securing a fastening system.

The method may further comprise the step of traversing a flap to a first position and engaging a fastener on a distal end portion of the flap and a first mating fastener on a first side of the sheet wherein the first mating fastener is positioned on top of the upper bunk.

The method may also further comprise the step of traversing the flap to a second position and engaging the fastener on the distal end portion of the flap and a second mating fastener on the first side of the sheet wherein the second mating fastener is positioned on top of the upper bunk.

The first and second outer supports may be either left and right rails of the upper bunk or head and foot slats of the upper bunk.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of the of an upper bunk bed with exposed slats;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the upper bunk with the slats hidden with a cover;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the upper bunk and cover shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the upper bunk illustrating a fastening system of the cover;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flap of the cover traversable between first and second positions for displaying first and second motifs;

FIG. 6 illustrates the flap of the cover shown in FIG. 5 traversed to the first position; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of an intermediate strap shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, a cover 10 is disclosed for hiding a plurality of slats 12 so that a person lying on a bottom bunk of a bunk bed does not have to see the unappealing plurality of slats 12 of the upper bunk. Instead, the cover 10 may have an artistic design (see FIG. 2) or means for attaching personal documents (e.g. photographs) to the bottom side of the cover 10. The cover 10 is capable of fitting onto the outermost head and foot slats 12 of the bunk bed regardless of the exact position of the slats 12. In particular, the cover 10 may have a strapping system 14 which may be adjusted to place tension on the cover 10 so that regardless of the distance 16 of the slats 12 a, 12 b, the cover 10 can be tensioned and fitted around the slats 12 a, 12 b. Additionally, the cover 10 may have a flap 18 that can be traversed between first and second positions to display one of two different motifs (e.g. daytime/nighttime) as shown in FIG. 5.

More particularly, referring now to FIG. 2, a bottom side of an upper bunk bed 22 is shown. The cover 10 is disposed about the outermost slats 12 a, b and tensioned so that the cover 10 does not sag downward. The bottom of the cover 10 is substantially flat to provide for an aesthetically appealing environment for the person using the lower bunk of the bunk bed. The exposed surface 24 of the cover 10 shown in FIG. 2 may have an aesthetically pleasing design. By way of example and not limitation, the aesthetically pleasing design may be a unitary color (e.g., red, blue, favorite color) or a motif (e.g., daytime landscape, nighttime scene, etc.). The aesthetically pleasing design may be stitched, ironed on, removably attached to the exposed surface 24 such as by hooks and loops, buttons, snaps, painted on, etc.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the cover 10 may include an elongate sheet 26 that is longer than the distance 16 between the outermost slats 12 a, 12 b. Preferably, the elongate sheet 26 is sufficiently long to wrap around and cover the entire outermost slats 12 a, 12 b. This is better shown in FIG. 4 wherein the distal ends 27 a, b extend beyond two or more slats 12 c, d. Twin size beds have a standard size. However, the positioning of the outermost slats 12 a, b may vary. Some bunk bed frames have the outermost slats 12 a, b positioned closer to each other compared to other bunk bed frames. By making the elongate sheet 26 longer than the distance 16 between the outermost slats 12 a, b, the elongate sheet 26 may cover any bunk bed regardless of the positioning of the outermost slats 12 a, b.

The width 28 of the cover 10 may be slightly narrower compared to a width 32 of the elongate rails 30 of the upper bunk 22. In this manner, the cover 10 conceals a substantial amount of the exposed slats 12 so that the person lying on the lower bunk need not view the aesthetically displeasing slats 12. Plus, the cover 10 prevents a person from hurting themselves with splinters inherent to the wooden slats 12 by acting as a protective member.

To secure the cover 10 to the slats 12 of the upper bunk 22, the cover 10 may have a plurality of straps 34, 36 which are removably engageable to each other to take the cover 10 on and off of the slats 12, as desired and needed. Moreover, the first and second straps 34, 36 may adjust tension within the cover 10 so that the cover 10 does not sag downward when mounted to the upper bunk 22. The bottom of the cover 10 remains taut so as to be substantially flat. More particularly, the first straps 34 may extend from a first distal end 27 a of the elongate sheet 26. The first strap 34 may also have a buckle 38. The second strap 36 may extend from a second distal end 27 b of the elongate sheet 26. The second strap 36 may be sufficiently long to be fed through the buckle 38 and be secured to itself by way of a hook and loop connection 40 or other fastening system. To tension the cover 10 around the slats 12, the second straps 36 are fed through the buckle 38 attached to the first straps. The distal end portions of the second straps 36 are pulled until the desired tension within the cover 10 is achieved. When the desired tension is achieved, the hook and loop connections 40 sewn into the second straps 36 are engaged to set the tension of the cover 10. All of the second straps are engaged so that tension is placed throughout the entire width 28 of the elongate sheet 26.

To distribute the tension force created by the first and second straps 34, 36 more evenly about the width 28 of the elongate sheet 26, a generally rigid material or member 42 may be disposed at the distal end portions 44, 46 of the elongate sheet 26. When the straps 34, 36 place tension on the elongate sheet 26, the rigid material or member 42 disburses the pulling force of the straps 34, 36 laterally outward to more evenly distribute the tension. The rigid members 42 may be disposed between upper and lower layers of the elongate sheet 26. The rigid members 42 may be stitched in place between stitches and the distal ends 27 a, b of the elongate sheet. The straps 34, 36 may be secured to the distal end portions 44, 46 of the elongate sheet 26. To more evenly distribute the forces created by the straps 34, 36, the straps 34, 36 may additionally be secured to the rigid members 42 such as by stitches or adhesive.

By way of example and not limitation, the sheet 26 may include upper and lower layers. The rigid member 42 may be disposed between the upper and lower layers. The upper and lower layers may be stitched to enclosed rigid member 42 so that the rigid member 42 remains in place. Alternatively, the rigid member 42 may be stitched to the upper and lower layers but not the rigid member 42 which still prevents excessive movement of the rigid member 42 during use. The straps 34, 36 may also be stitched to the upper and lower layers as well as the rigid members 42 to facilitate distribution of forces caused by the straps 34, 36 onto the elongate sheet 26.

Preferably, the elongate sheet 26 is fabricated from a flexible but non-elastic fabric material. Also, the rigid member 42 may be fabricated from any material stiffer than the material from which the elongate sheet 26 is fabricated. By way of example and not limitation, the rigid member 42 may be plastic, polypropylene, etc. whereas the sheet is fabricated from a fabric. Although it is preferred that the elongate sheet 26 be fabricated from a generally non-elastic fabric, it is also contemplated that the elongate sheet 26 may be fabricated from a semi-elastic/elastic material.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 7, the elongate sheet 26 may have an additional strapping mechanism 48. The strapping mechanism 48 may be strapped around one or more intermediate slats 12 to further mitigate sagging of the bottom side of the elongate sheet 26 when mounted to the upper bunk 22. The strapping mechanism 48 may be stitched or otherwise attached to the interior side 50 of the elongate sheet 26. The strapping mechanism 48 may comprise first and second straps 52, 54 which may be secured to each other by way of hooks and loops 56. Other removable attachable fastening mechanisms are also contemplated such as snaps, buttons, etc. However, the hooks and loops system 56 allows the user to wrap the straps 52, 54 tightly around one or more slats 12 until the desired tension is achieved and to set the tension.

Referring now to the FIGS. 5 and 6, the flap 18 is shown as being traversable between a first position (see FIG. 6) and a second position. The flap 18 may be traversed to the first position by traversing the flap 18 in the direction of arrow 58. The flap 18 may be traversed to the second position by traversing the flap 18 in the direction of arrow 60. The flap 18 is pivotable about hinge 62. Although a seam 64 is shown in FIG. 5, the flap 18 may be seamless so that no stitches are shown at the hinge 62. To this end, the flap 18 may be fabricated from first and second layers 66, 68. The first layer 66 may be formed from the exposed surface 24 on the left side of the elongate sheet 26. The second layer 68 may be formed from the exposed surface on the right side of the sheet 26. An interior layer 70 may be stitched to the exterior layer 72 which defines the exterior surface 24. No stitching is required at the hinge 62 of the flap 18.

The distal end portion of the flap 18 may have either hooks or loops 76 of the hook and loop system 56. The length 74 of the flap 18 may be sufficiently long so that the hooks or loops 76 of the fastening system disposed on the distal end portion of the flap 18 can be attached to corresponding loops or hooks 78 a, b of the hooks and loops system 56 disposed on the top side of the cover, as shown in FIG. 5. To traverse the flap 18 to the first position the flap 18 is wrapped around the outermost slat 12 a and the hooks or loops 76 are secured to the loops or hooks 78 a. To traverse the flap 18 to the second position, the flap 18 is wrapped around the outermost slat 12 b and the hooks or loops 76 are secured to the loops or hooks 78 b.

If the distal end portion of the flap 18 has hooks 76, then the distal end portion may have protective coverings 80 a, b. When the flap 18 is traversed to the first position, the protective covering 80 a is folded back while the protective covering 80 b covers the hooks 76 so that the user can rub his or her fingers on the protective covering 80 b when engaging the hooks 76 to the loops 78 Likewise, when the flap 18 is traversed to the second position, the protective covering 80 b is folded back while the protective covering 80 a covers the hooks 76 so that the user can rub his or her fingers on the protective covering 80 a to engage the hooks 76 and the loops 78 b.

The exposed surface 24 on the bottom side of the upper bunk 22 may have a fastening system for securing objects to the exposed surface 24. By way of example and not limitation, the exposed surface 24 may be fabricated from hooks, loops or hooks and loops. The objects to be secured to the exposed surface 24 may have the corresponding loops or hooks for securing the object to the exposed surface 24. Another means for securing objects to the exposed surface 24 is to place a plurality of strips in a crisscross fashion that allows the user to tuck objects between the exposed surface 24 and the strips. Other fastening systems are also contemplated such as snaps, buttons, magnets, etc.

The cover 10 discussed herein has been discussed and illustrated with the cover 10 being wrapped around the head and foot slats 12 a, b. However, it is also contemplated that the cover 10 may be wrapped around the left and right rails of the upper bunk 22. In this case, the cover may conceal a portion of the underside of the upper bunk up to the entire underside of the upper bunk.

Additionally, the flap 18 has been described as being a singular flap 18 that can be traversed between first and second positions to display one of two different motifs. However, it is also contemplated that additional flaps 18 may be incorporated into the cover 10 so that additional motifs may be selectively displayed, as needed or desired. All of the flaps 18 may pivot about the hinge 62, be wrapped around the head and foot slats 12 a, b and attached to the loops or hooks 78 a, b.

The various aspects of the cover 10 have been described in relation to a twin sized bunk bed. However, the dimensions of the cover 10 may be increased or decreased in order to accommodate different size beds such as Full, Queen, Eastern King and California King size beds. Additionally, although the cover 10 may be mounted to the slats 12 or rails 30 of the upper bunk of a bunk bed, it is also contemplated that the cover 10 may be mounted to the slats 12 or rails 30 of a loft bed, lower bunk and even a standard bed.

Additionally, although it is preferable that the cover 10 be wrapped around the outermost slats 12 (i.e., head slat and foot slat), it is also contemplated that the cover 10 may be wrapped around slats 12 intermediate to the outermost slats 12. Additionally, although the cover 10 is described as being alternatively wrapped around the rails 30, it is also contemplated that the cover 10 may be wrapped around a supporting member inwardly adjacent the rails 30.

The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including various ways of sewing the fabric together to fabricate the cover 10. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A cover for hiding slats exposed on an underside of an upper bed of a bunk bed, the cover comprising: a sheet defining a first side and a second side, the first side being exposed for viewing by a person lying down on a lower bunk of the bunk bed, the second side facing the slats of the upper bed of the bunk bed; a plurality of first straps attached to a first end portion of the sheet; a plurality of second straps attached to a second end portion of the sheet, the first and second straps being removably engagable to each other and adjustable to place tension in the first and second straps and the elongate sheet.
 2. The cover of claim 1 further comprising: a first rigid member extending between two of the first straps, the first rigid member being attached to the first end portion of the elongate sheet for distributing force on the sheet about a width of the first straps; a second rigid member extending between two of the second straps, the second rigid member attached to the second end portion of the elongate sheet for distributing force on the elongate sheet about a width of the second straps.
 3. The cover of claim 1 wherein the first and second rigid members extend from a left edge to a right edge of the sheet.
 4. The cover of claim 1 wherein the first and second rigid members extend between outermost first straps and outermost second straps.
 5. The cover of claim 1 wherein the sheet is fabricated from a multi-ply fabric, and the first and second rigid members are embedded between outer plies of the sheet.
 6. The cover of claim 1 wherein the second straps have buckles for feeding the first straps through the buckles and tensioning the sheet, and the first straps having a fastening system for fixing the tension of the straps and the sheet after the desired tension is achieved.
 7. The cover of claim 1 wherein the first and second rigid members are stiffer than the sheet.
 8. The cover of claim 7 wherein the first and second rigid members are fabricated from a plastic material, and the sheet is fabricated from a fabric.
 9. The cover of claim 1 further comprising a flap extending from the first side of the sheet, the flap being longer than ½ a length of the upper bunk and defining first and second sides, a distal end portion of the flap having a fastener for fastening the distal end portion of the flap to the first side either in a first position exposing a first side of the flap or in a second position exposing a second side of the flap.
 10. The cover of claim 1 wherein the first side of the sheet has a first and second fasteners which are positioned on top of the upper bunk when the cover is mounted to the upper bunk of the bunk bed, a distal portion of the flap has a fastener and a length of the flap is equal to a distance between a hinge of the flap to the first side of the sheet and one of the first and second fasteners formed on the first side of the sheet.
 11. The cover of claim 10 wherein a first distance between the hinge of the flap and the first fastener formed on the first side of the sheet is equal to a second distance between the hinge of the flap and the second fastener formed on the first side of the sheet.
 12. The cover of claim 1 wherein the fastener and the mating fastener are hooks and loops, snaps, buttons or a combination thereof.
 13. A method of mounting a cover to an upper bunk of a bunk bed, the method comprising the steps of: wrapping a sheet around a first outer support of the upper bunk and an opposed second outer support of the upper bunk; adjusting tension of the sheet around the first and second outer supports by engaging first and second straps attached to the opposed distal end portions of the sheet; securing the first and second straps together to fix the tension in the sheet.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the adjusting step includes the step of feeding first straps through buckles attached to the second straps and securing a fastening system.
 15. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of traversing a flap to a first position and engaging a fastener on a distal end portion of the flap and a first mating fastener on a first side of the sheet wherein the first mating fastener is positioned on top of the upper bunk.
 16. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of traversing the flap to a second position and engaging the fastener on the distal end portion of the flap and a second mating fastener on the first side of the sheet wherein the second mating fastener is positioned on top of the upper bunk.
 17. The method of claim 14 wherein the first and second outer supports are either left and right rails of the upper bunk or head and foot slats. 